Photography show highlights work in remote Indian village

Born and raised in Sonoma, Elise Gonzalez has certainly flown the coop in a matter of speaking. She has lived in the village of Dharamsala in northern India since 2006, originally traveling to the country to do volunteer work. In the intervening years she has made a much bigger impact doing community development on the side. Her work includes bringing the community together with its youth – instilling a sense of leadership in a village where little existed.

“We’ve brought health awareness to the young people here and have helped them with sanitation issues,” said Gonzalez. “We’ve also established afterschool activities which have been vital for giving these children something to do with their spare time while their parents are working.”

As the young people have grown up, Gonzalez created a trekking company, Himalayan Explorers to give them employment and a reason to stay in the village. They were sent to mountaineering school and trained in customer service and today, four guides own a stake of the trekking company at the foot of the Dhauladhar mountain range in Himachal Pradesh.

This weekend Gonzalez will hold a photography exhibit that highlights the incredibly beautiful place that she now calls home. Featuring photography by Rahul and Rohit Lal, twenty-one large-scale printed canvases will be on display at her home at 21491 Burndale Road in Sonoma.

Exhibition hours are as follows: am opening reception is set for Friday, December 10 from 6 to 8 p.m. Exhibition times are Saturday, December 11 and Sunday December 12 from noon until 8 p.m.

For more information, contact Gonzalez at [email protected] or 938.3562.